


The Neptune Title

by audydapotato



Category: The Neptune Project
Genre: Gen, Ocean, POV, Project, Science, Survival, Telepath, Underwater, Whales, eugenicswar, neptuneproject, safetyharbor, triologysequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:40:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29699304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/audydapotato/pseuds/audydapotato
Summary: YOU CAN READ THIS IF YOU NEVER READ THE SERIES BEFORE, I WILL BE EXPLICIT ABOUT INFORMATION ALONG THE WAY.The story isn't over in Safety Harbor as the winter rolls in. Nere and her friends go toe-to-toe with Wasp one last time, but the Atlantea kids aren't here for vengeance, but an open invitation for acceptance and a new future. When Mark Hanson kicks the bucket, the votes are unanimous; Nere will be the next to carry the heavy burden. Nere's story isn't all to this book: Dai's encounter with his past still terrifies him in his sleep. Multiple questions are asked and answered in this novel: Can Tobin move on? Will Sunny be able to follow her heart... for love? How about the new girl, Sabrina? Why does she cling to the past? Follow multiple characters in a fast-paced book while they navigate through the murky waters of their brain.
Relationships: Dai Kuron/Maia Kuron, Lena/Thom, Nere Hanson/Cam, Nere Hanson/Dai Kuron, Nere Hanson/Robry, Octavion/Shadow, Rad/Ree, Tobin/Bria, Tobin/Nere Hanson, Tobin/Shadow
Comments: 3
Kudos: 1





	The Neptune Title

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2 years after staying in Saftey Harbor, Nere is now 17 and an official dolphin trainer in Safety Harbor. Adapted into living in the sea, she was born and made to live in the ocean, communicating by telepathic powers and breathing with gill filaments in her lungs. After months of blood, near-death experiences, and betrayal, she finally feels like she belongs in Safety Harbor with all of her friends. 
> 
> NOTE (read!): Usually telepathic communication uses :this,: but since Grammarly's going to scream at me I'm going to use "this", even though it's not canon. This is probably the first TNP fanfiction in AO3, as not many people read it. I tried to write it so that you can understand most of it without going to read the series. READ ALL THE SUMMARIES FOR COMPREHENSION!

_"DAI- don't move, I'm untying the knots!" Nere screamed, tugging on Dai's wetsuit. Dai was my close friend and companion in Safety Harbor._

_He gritted his teeth. "I'm trying, but it's not easy when there's a sea dart in my thigh!" Nere sighed and pinched him hard on the shoulder, lifting him as tenderly as she could, trying not to look at the wound._

_Surprisingly, he was able to stay still as she ran the pad of her thumb on the wound. "I think Tobin can take a look at this. For now, we need you to get up," Nere groaned, thrusting him up. Shaking the blood out of her hair, she turned back to Dai. "Can you swim, or do we have to get a tow-"_

_"I can swim, but let's call Mariah just in case," Dai interrupted, taking a sharp breath. Mariah was Nere's dolphin, who was the mother of a huge dolphin pod. Even though she was old, Nere made her feel like a young calf again._

_"Got it. Try to stay conscious," Nere gasped, gripping his wrist and kicking up. A hesitation. Then, "Are you OK? I mean, with the blood and everything-" Dai's father was Ran Kuron, who spliced genes that weren't just fish genes into humans. Unfortunately, Dai was one of them. He had shark genes instead of fish genes, which could make him paranoid in a place with blood._

_Flinching, Dai held her grip tighter. "I don't want to hurt you. I'm fine. Did you call Mariah?" The weakness in his voice made Nere worry, but she kept her determined face._

_"I'm calling her. Hold on now," she sighed and reached her mind to Mariah. Gillian, her mother, had taught Mariah to communicate telepathy from humans to dolphins, or vice versa._

_"Mariah? You there?"_

_Instantly, a reply came back. "What is it? Where are you?!"_

_"Dai needs help. We're- we're in the Twighlight Zone. Can you spare a tow?" Nere frantically turned around, examining her surroundings. No reply. "MARIAH?!" she screamed, trying to find her mind. It was like she just disappeared._

_She gave Dai a worried look before circling him. "N-Nere?" he murmured, his voice turning weak, "What's wrong?"_

_Instead of replying, she grabbed his wrist and kicked upwards, wishing she was wearing her fin. "Nere?!"_

_Her head started to throb with the pressure and her vision began to darken. She tried to find someone else for help, but nobody other than Dai and her could catch a message from here, as they were the strongest telepaths here._

_"Mariah?? DENSIL? SOKYA?" she tried to call her other dolphin friends, but there was no reply. She continued to drag Dai up and up, trying to break the surface-_

_Before she could leave the Twighlight Zone and into the Sunlight Zone, her limbs gave out and she collapsed in the water. There was no one to contact. Dai was losing too much blood and Nere felt like she was going to collapse any moment. With one last try, she cried out to Shadow, one of her friends that had a longer range of telepathy, before blacking out with Dai._

***

Nere shot up from her hammock, gripping the bed as support, panting. Oh, for all the stars. Did that really happen, or was it a nightmare? Pulling herself out of the bed, she winced when looking upon the words 'SICKBAY' painted on the wall. They had actually gotten hurt, and someone must've saved them. Shadow? Did Mariah actually get the message? Maybe Dai was better than she thought he was?

Nere swam out, surprised about how much better she felt than in the dream. Peeling off a loose bandage, it revealed a small cut, enough to make a person get hurt and bleed. Wading the bandage into a ball and tossing it, she let the water run beneath her before continuing to swim down the hall. If she could find Tobin...

Not looking where she was, she bumped into someone. 

"Oh- Tobin!" 

Tobin was another friend of hers, who specialized in medical skills. He had a younger sister named Bria, which Nere had really grown on. Wiping the scowl off his face, he looked at Nere. 

"Oh, Nere, you're up. Rohan's treating Dai right now. He's actually in the room to your left, not right," Tobin said, his green eyes glinting sadly. 

"I was actually looking for you, Tobin. How's Dai?" 

Tobin's glint faded. He never liked Dai a lot, especially when Nere and Dai dated briefly. Even though no one confirmed it, Nere and Dai were closer than 'just friends'. Tobin had feelings for Nere 2 years ago and still had slight emotions for her, but he usually tried to be nonchalance. 

"Dai lost quite a bit of blood, more than last time you saved him," Nere cringed at the memory of dragging an unconscious Dai to the hospital, where he had his arm chewed up and all, "But some blood transfusion can get him up and running. Not literally, of course." Tobin gave a small smile to Nere, which she weakly returned it.

"Glad to know. Anything wrong with me?"

Tobin frowned. "No, just a slight concussion, but since you woke up so fast, I believe nothing serious happened. You must've gotten sick under the pressure. James has been worried." 

Nere nodded. James was her older brother, which she had thought dead or hiding in the Channel Islands a long time ago, even before she was part of the Neptune Project. It was a long story. "That's good. Can- Can I see Dai? To make sure he's all right?"

He nodded, but it was curt and fast. "I can talk to Rohan. He should be done analyzing his blood flow. He's alive... for now. Do you need privacy?"

"Oh, no. I just need to see him," Nere said, pulling her hair into a tail. Usually, it was kept in a neat braid but she had no time to fix it. 

Tobin raised an eyebrow but didn't object. "Sure." Another hesitation. "Don't you want to know how you got saved? You guys were practically dead when we found you in the sickbay," Tobin asked, his lips curving into a sly smile. 

Nere blushed. "Well, kinda. Was it Shadow?" She recollected herself sending one last communication effort to Shadow before fainting.

Tobin frowned. "Shadow? No, she didn't get anything. You guys were probably too deep to send anyone a message, anyways. About 5 minutes after you guys fell, your father saw blood in the waters and we found your body. You looked fine, but Dai was losing a lot of blood, fast. Rad went to get you. Ree was furious, really, seeing you unconscious," Tobin said.

Nere pulled back a laugh before turning around. "Good to know. Dai's in room 8?" she asked, swimming to the only closed door. Tobin nodded.

"Rohan? Dai has a visitor," Tobin called before the door opened. Rohan opened the door, a worried glance in his eyes. Rohan was another person who worked in the sickbay and was pretty close to Nere. 

"Can I come in?" Nere whispered, timidly creeping toward the door. Rohan simply nodded. 

"Dai's awake, but he's under heavy painkillers. Try not to overwhelm him," Rohan said, floating to the side of the room. 

Nere nodded before stopping at Dai and hovering near him slightly, not knowing what to do. Without consulting anything or anybody, she wrapped her hands around Dai's idle body. 

"Dai-" she choked, tracing her finger on his cheek. 

He stirred. Lifting one eyebrow, he opened his eyes. 

"I heard you thinking about me," Dai said, his glance at the wall. Nere glared at him.

"Shut up, Kuron," was the only thing she could manage before burying her head into his chest. Dai tentatively put her arm around Nere. She got up and narrowed her eyes at Dai. His wound on his thigh was closing up, probably from the stitches, but she noticed a red splotch near his arm. "What's that-" she pointed at the spot. 

"Nothing. Ignore it," Dai said defensively, squinting. Tobin had arrived at the door, and she saw a stirring motion in the walls. Of course. 

"Shadow, come on out," she groaned, swimming toward Tobin. Shadow had the spliced genes of not only a fish _and_ an octopus, a bit like how Dai had shark genes. She was able to blend in the environment, but thankfully only had one pair of arms, unlike Ocho, who had 6 arms from an octopus splicing. 

Shadow appeared from the well, shadows, and flashed a small smile to Nere. "I heard about the incident. Dai should be fine in a week or so," Shadow said, swimming next to Tobin. Even though it was meant for her to feel better, it didn't. 

"What happened to him? It was just a spear dart wound," Nere asked, her mental voice choking.

Tobin didn't reply directly to Nere. "The dart must've hit an artery. It wasn't a major one, but it wasn't a minor one, too. Some stitches and blood transfusions should make him recover, but there can be enlarged pain for a while. Our two top donors would be Thom and Rad. I'm supposed to be a donor if anything goes wrong," Tobin knotted his fingers together. 

Rad was another person with spliced genes, this time an electric eel. Dai, Shadow, Rad, Ocho, and Sunny were all from Atlantea, where they had genes spliced in them that weren't just fish. Sunny had genes of a bioluminescence fish. "That's good... when am I discharged?" Nere asked, removing her hands from Dai and floated away. 

"Today or tomorrow, if you feel better. The dolphin training needs you, but we don't want you to overwhelm yourself," Rohan replied this time, digging his nails into his palm. Nere turned her head. 

"I feel fine, really. I feel like I never passed out," Nere said, and she wasn't lying. She felt much better like she did last week. She glanced at Dai one more time. He had gone back to sleep. 

Shadow shook her head. "It's just an aftershock, you need rest. Go sit down," Shadow said firmly. 

"I feel _fine._ Plus, the rest of the dolphins are probably worrying about me, excluding my friends," Nere objected, but she sat down. Shadow glanced at Tobin. He nodded.

"If you really feel OK, then you're discharged in 3 hours. For now, Dai needs rest and we're just overwhelming him." 

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed 'The Neptune Title', make sure to check out my Wattpad Account, https://w.tt/3dLrkj3 Here I have all my work like 'Rose', a Lunar Chronicles fanfiction and 'The Frozen Secret', a sci-fi free-novel I wrote (coming in March of 2021). Don't forget to leave a Kudos if you enjoyed it, and I am open to SUGGESTIONS, not criticism. Have a wonderful day/afternoon/night/midnight/dawn/dusk!!
> 
> -audy ♥


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